More From the Road

Stop signals embedded in the pavement

While in Houston last week, I came across a couple of examples of something I had never seen before. That is signal lights embedded in the pavement. The example in the photo above is under a skywalk near The Galleria, where red lights are embedded and facing the oncoming traffic. When the signal light is red, the ones in the pavement also light up. When the light changes to green, the pavement lights go out.

Even more striking were embedded lights in the Theater District downtown. Flashing amber-colored lights in the road surface marked the crosswalks, and made one very aware of pedestrians crossing, especially at night. Unfortunately, I didn't get a shot of one of those. Maybe next time.

The next photo shows a sample of the types of Big Green Signs being used in new freeway construction around Houston. Not only are these notable for the attractive gantry support and their use of the new Clearview font; they also do away with the directional exit number tabs. Instead, the exit numbers are contained within part of the BGS separated by a line. Instead of a left-aligned tab for exits to the left, and right aligned for exits to the right; direction for the exit is indicated only by the orientation of the text itself.


Interstate Highway 10 (Katy Freeway) westbound approaching Katy, Texas

For comparison, here is an example of the old style taken in the Denver area. Notice the left tab for left Exit 217B and the right tab for right Exit 217A. Also notice the sloppy sign hanging job, as the 217A sign is not installed parallel with the sign to its left.


Example of old-style exit tabs

Also, I noticed on the Katy Freeway photo there are no lighting booms. I am not sure how these signs are illuminated, but I don't believe they are backlit.

The next photo was taken through a dirty windshield, but you can get the idea. This is also the older, tabbed BGS style, but this one is significant as it marks the southern terminus of Interstate 45. This is in Galveston, where Broadway becomes a freeway headed north toward Houston and Dallas. A couple of interesting items here. One, the wrong, wider shield is used for the Interstate 45 indicator; and there is not a sign indicating the beginning or ending of I-45 on either side of the highway. The causeway connecting Galveston Island to the mainland is just a few miles down the road from here.


Beginning of I-45 Northbound. Mile 1 exits a mile or so ahead!

Keep checking in. Lots more to come.

Williams Tower

Metro bus routes at the Williams Tower stop

Okay, its time to get started with some of the photos from last week's trip to Houston. A good place to start is the iconic Williams Tower on South Post Oak in the Uptown District, also known as The Galleria Area.

Williams Tower was constructed in a record 16 months, and was completed in 1983. It was originally known as Transco Tower, and many locals still refer to the building that way. Transco Energy, the major tennant, was acquired by Tulsa-based Williams, thus the renaming of the building.


Williams (formerly Transco) Tower.
Notice the lone cloud reflected in the buiding's glass surface.

I worked across the freeway from this structure during its construction, and watched over the months as it rose from the ground to its ultimate height of 64-stories and 901 feet above the street below. The tower's architects, Philip Johnson and John Burgee, created in glass the echoes of Art Deco skyscrapers of stone. Topping off the building is a rotating beacon that sweeps across the nighttime skies of Houston. When I fly into Hobby Airport, it is one of the things I look for on approach, although most flights I have taken into Bush Intercontinental take a path too far to the north to readily identify it.

This building's design is unusual in other ways; for example, it is actually built as two separate buildings stacked one atop the other, each with its own lobby and elevator system. At the time it opened, it was the tallest skyscraper in the world outside of its city's central business district. Currently, it is the fourth tallest building in Texas.


Front facade

Adjacent to the Williams Tower is the Waterwall. Situated across a park green to the south of the tower, the waterwall is another Houston landmark. The first photo below is a view of the entire north-facing front of the waterwall.


Waterwall

Here is a picture I took up close, under one of the arches. I like the arcs, lines, and angles of this shot.


Waterwall close up

Anyone interested in architecture should definitely make a stop at the Williams Tower when visiting Houston.